A volunteer who was seriously wounded during a Russian attack has died in Kherson

Olena Tarasenko, a 48-year-old volunteer, died in Kherson after spending a month and a half in the hospital following a Russian shelling. During the city’s occupation, she helped evacuate people and was held captive by the Russians.

This was reported by television and theater producer and screenwriterIryna Ester Vrataryova. The news of the volunteer’s death was also confirmed by her friend, journalist Tetiana Savulia.

Olena Tarasenko sustained severe shrapnel wounds on May 24. At around 9:45 a.m., the Russian army shelled the Korabelny district of Kherson with artillery. At that time, the woman was behind the wheel of a car.

She was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Doctors fought to save her life for nearly a month and a half.

According to Tetiana Savulia, about a week before her death, Olena was transferred to the neurology ward. The journalist last saw her friend on July 3.

The next day, July 4, at around 9:00 a.m., Olena Tarasenko died. She is survived by her 85-year-old mother and her 21-year-old son.

Before the full-scale invasion, Olena worked as a trolleybus driver in Kherson. After Russian troops seized the city, she began helping local residents.

During the occupation, the volunteer transported people to territory controlled by Ukraine. On her way back, she brought medicine, food, and hygiene supplies to the occupied city.

“She came as a beacon of hope and salvation,” said Iryna Vrataryova, describing how the people she helped remembered Olena.

In September 2022, Russian troops abducted the volunteer. According to Vrataryova, Tarasenko was held in a torture chamber, subjected to electric shocks, and forced to name Ukrainian patriots. She was also accused of collaborating with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

After the liberation of Kherson, Olena Tarasenko remained in the city. She continued her volunteer work and helped people despite constant Russian shelling.

During an artillery strike on the Korabelny district on May 24, which left Tarasenko with fatal injuries, an 81-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man were also injured.

Earlier, Iryna Bayrachenko, a volunteer from Kherson, was killed by a Russian drone. Her school-age daughter, Margarita, was left without a mother.

Ірина Глухова